MURDER TRIAL STARTS IN TODDLER DEATH

14-month-old girl was beaten in 2005, prosecution alleges

Vista 
Testimony started Tuesday in the trial of a Fallbrook man accused of murder in the 2005 death of his then-girlfriend’s toddler.

Jurors in Vista Superior Court will be faced with a key question: Was Breanna Cabrera beaten to death, or was she a medically fragile 14-month-old who died from natural causes?

Efrain Cornejo, 29, is charged with murder and child abuse. He faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

Jurors will be asked to sift through hours of testimony from doctors and medical experts who came to differing conclusions.

Breanna’s mother was at work, and Breanna was at home with Cornejo when he called 911 just before 5:30 p.m. on May 22, 2005, a Sunday. His mother and Breanna’s 6-year-old half-sister also were at the home.

The baby was not breathing, and a dispatcher coached Cornejo through CPR steps until paramedics arrived five minutes later.

The child remained unresponsive, and died an hour later at Fallbrook Hospital.

About two weeks before she died, Breanna had suffered several seizures, leading doctors to send her by helicopter to Children’s Hospital, where she was placed in a medically induced coma. She stayed for 10 days.

The cause of the seizures is unknown but believed to have been the result of an infection, according to court records filed last month by Cornejo’s attorneys.

When Breanna was discharged from the hospital, she was weak and unable to even hold her head up, much like a newborn, attorneys told the jury Tuesday.

While in the hospital, the child was given phenobarbital, used to control seizures. Her autopsy revealed that when she died she had less than half the level of the medicine than doctors had intended, Cornejo’s attorneys said.

The autopsy also showed that the child had bruises and internal injuries, including a lacerated liver.

The trauma findings were deemed inconsistent with resuscitation efforts and led authorities to declare the child’s death a homicide, Deputy District Attorney Patricia Lavermicocca told the jury.

“At the end of the trial, you will know that 14-month-old Breanna was viciously beaten by the defendant. He beat her over and over again,” Lavermicocca said.

Cornejo’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Jill Kovaly, told the jury that authorities let their emotions get in the way.

“Looking for someone to blame. That is what this is all about,” Kovaly said.

It took authorities five years to bring charges in the case. Cornejo has been jailed in lieu of $5 million bail since his arrest in April 2010.

“The child’s death is tragic, but if you look at the case objectively and look at the big picture, you will find there is not enough evidence to convict Efrain Cornejo,” Kovaly said.